DUNBAR, W.Va. — The Cold Spot has been a gathering place in the Kanawha Valley for many years, but early Saturday morning the popular bar and grill was lost in a fast moving fire.
“It’s kind of ironic, we’re putting out hot spots at the Cold Spot,” said Kanawha County Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman from the scene Saturday morning.
The fire erupted about 3:30 a.m. and had engulfed about 60 percent of the building by the time fire departments from Dunbar, Charleston, and South Charleston arrived on the scene.
“The first arriving units had fire coming out the sides toward Route 25,” Sigman said. “I was coming just a few minutes later and you could see it from the Dunbar Toll Bridge so it was going pretty good just a few minutes into it.”
Dispatchers with Kanawha County 911 said they got a call from somebody who was apparently an employee who closed up for the night. The caller told the dispatcher he walked outside and all he saw was fire.
Firefighters on the scene indicated the fire appeared to have been concentrated in the ceiling above the kitchen area.
“That’s where they saw the heaviest fire,” Sigman said. “They don’t know if it was from the stove, or electrical, or whatever. They just won’t know until they get into it.”
A fire marshal was due at the scene Saturday to begin the investigation.
The building housed a popular bar and restaurant on one side. The other side housed a small market. The establishment was an institution among locals for lunch and hanging out with friends after work.
Several patrons lamented the loss on social media as news of the fire spread Saturday morning.
“I was thinking recently we hadn’t been in a long time and needed to go get some wings,” wrote one poster to Facebook.
Another added, “So sad! Where will everyone get their football & wings this season?”
“Man that’s terrible,” one commenter posted to Twitter. “Best wings and a great hangout. Some great memories there.”
Sigman said the construction of the building and the intensity of the fire made it impossible to save the structure, but he added fire fighters did an excellent job keeping the flames from several other businesses located nearby.